Russia

Overview

Russia --- the Russian Empire --- is Marie Bashkirtseff's homeland, the country she left at age ten or eleven and never ceased to invoke as "ma patrie." Though she spent most of her conscious life in Nice and Paris, Russia remains the gravitational center of her identity: the source of her family's wealth and social standing, the object of her patriotic emotion, and the place she simultaneously yearns for and refuses to inhabit. The word "Russie" appears over 400 times in the diary, far more than any other country, spanning every register from practical family business to existential longing.

This entry focuses on Russia as a place in Marie's life --- the physical country, the family estates, her visits, and the political backdrop. For the Russian language, code-switching, and linguistic identity, see [[RUSSIAN]].

Marie's Russian Origins

Marie Bashkirtseff (Maria Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva) was born on November 24, 1858, at the family estate in Gavrontsi (Havrontsi), near Poltava in Poltava Governorate, then part of the Russian Empire (now Ukraine). She came from what Mathilde Blind called the "petite noblesse" --- the lesser nobility, rural landowners of noble ancestry who formed the provincial governing class. Her father, Konstantin Pavlovich Bashkirtsev, served as marshal of nobility (marechal de noblesse) in Poltava, an elected position that placed the family at the summit of local society.

Marie spent her early childhood between the family estates --- Gavronzi (the paternal estate), Tcherniakovka (the maternal Babanine estate), and Vichnevka. She also visited the Crimea, Odessa, and Kiev with her mother. In about 1870, following her parents' separation, Marie's mother took her and her brother Paul to travel through Europe, eventually settling in Nice. Marie would not return to Russian soil until 1876.

The Family Estates

Gavronzi (Paternal)

The Bashkirtseff paternal estate near Poltava, purchased by Marie's grandfather, General Paul Grigorievitch Bashkirtseff, after the Crimean War. Marie's 1884 preface describes a dramatic custody scene there: her father and grandfather kidnapped the children and hid them in a "pavillon jaune" (yellow pavilion), forcing a confrontation with the maternal grandmother (000.0013). Marie's father continued living there after the family separated, and Marie stayed there during her 1876 Russia visit (carnets 065-066). By 1876, it was the last remaining property of her father's once-magnificent fortune: "Pauvre Paul, il ne sait pas... que son père est en train de se ruiner, qu'il ne lui reste plus qu'un seul bien, Gavronzi" (February 14, 1876).

Tcherniakovka (Maternal)

The Babanine family estate, a source of deep nostalgia for Marie despite --- or because of --- the fact that she barely remembers it. Ukrainian folk songs trigger tears: "Sonia joue au piano des airs petits-russiens et cela m'a rappele Tcherniakovka, et je suis toute transportee" (March 3, 1873). Her father's reminiscences produce romantic longing: "papa raconte les grandeurs passees de Tcherniakovka, pourquoi ce n'est plus ? Comme je l'aimerais" (April 13, 1874). Yet she also uses it as a byword for provincial backwardness, mocking preparations done "comme la domesticite de Tcherniakovka" (March 6, 1874). The estate provided ongoing income to support the family's life abroad.

Vichnevka

Another family property in the Poltava region. Less documented in the diary but part of the network of Ukrainian estates that sustained the family financially.

Poltava Governorate: Historical Context

Poltava Governorate was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire centered on the historic city of Poltava, famous for Peter the Great's decisive 1709 victory over Sweden. By the mid-19th century, it was one of the most densely populated and agricultural provinces of the empire, with a population approaching 2.8 million by the 1897 census, over 90% rural.

The region was historically part of Left-Bank Ukraine, governed directly as a Russian province since the 18th century. The population was overwhelmingly Ukrainian by language --- the 1897 census recorded 92.7% Ukrainian speakers --- but the nobility, including families like the Bashkirtsevs and Babanines, had adopted Russian as their language of culture and administration. They identified as Russian subjects and occupied positions in the imperial administrative hierarchy. Marie herself never uses the word "Ukrainian" to describe herself; she is unequivocally "russe."

The minor nobility (melkopomestnoe dvoryanstvo) of Poltava occupied a peculiar social position. Locally, they were the elite --- marshals of nobility, land captains, leaders of zemstvo assemblies. But by the standards of Petersburg or Moscow high society, they were provincial, and by the standards of the European aristocracy that Marie aspired to join, they were virtually unknown. This gap between local eminence and international obscurity is one of Marie's permanent frustrations: "en Russie nous occuperions toujours la position qui est la notre, parce qu'on nous connait, --- tandis qu'a l'etranger vous ne serez jamais que des nouveaux venus, des etrangers, des inconnus" (May 31, 1876, quoting Yssayevitch).

The Russian Empire in Marie's Lifetime (1858--1884)

The Great Reforms

Marie was born three years before the Emancipation of the serfs (1861), when Alexander II freed roughly 23 million serfs. This reform profoundly affected noble families like the Bashkirtsevs, whose wealth depended on landed estates worked by serf labor. The post-emancipation decades saw the economic decline of the provincial nobility as they struggled to manage estates without free labor. Marie's family history is a case study: the "magnifique fortune" disintegrated into lawsuits, mismanagement, and gradual property sales, leaving her father with only Gavronzi by 1876.

The emancipation anniversary remained a public occasion. In 1875, Marie attends a Te Deum "a l'occasion de l'avenement au trone de l'Empereur et de la liberation des serfs" at the Russian church in San Remo (March 3, 1875), a reminder that even abroad, Russian imperial events structured the calendar.

The Russo-Turkish War (1877--1878)

The Russo-Turkish War stirred Marie's patriotism intensely. Even before the war began, in August 1876, Marie witnessed its prelude in Petersburg: "Cette brillante jeunesse venait reconduire deux officiers qui, avec l'autorisation du gouvernement, partent pour la Serbie. La Serbie cause une vraie desertion; puisque l'Empereur ne veut pas declarer la guerre, toute la Russie souscrit et se souleve de coeur pour les Serbes" (August 11--12, 1876). By August 1877, she is anguished: "Vous croyez que je ne suis pas inquiete de la Russie ?! Quel est l'etre assez malheureux, assez meprisable... pour oublier sa patrie en danger ?!" (August 7, 1877). The phrase "notre guerre" --- our war --- reveals a deep identification with Russia despite years of living abroad.

Nihilism and Political Repression

Marie's diary tracks the rise of revolutionary terrorism in Russia with growing alarm. In Moscow in 1876, she fears the nihilists will corrupt "ce bon peuple" and provoke catastrophe: "Mephistopheles pervertit Marguerite. La propagande fait son oeuvre infame" (August 11--12, 1876). Her uncle Nicolas turns out to be "un nihiliste, un nihiliste borne" --- Marie mocks him but then seriously asks him to explain the movement (August 20, 1878). She attends church partly "pour qu'on ne dise pas que je suis nihiliste" (November 10, 1879; April 11, 1879).

In February 1880, she notes the latest assassination attempt: "Te deum a l'occasion de la facon miraculeuse avec laquelle l'Empereur a echappe a une nouvelle tentative nihiliste" (February 22, 1880). The assassination of Alexander II on March 13, 1881, confirmed what Marie feared: the repressive reaction under Alexander III made the political situation in Russia untenable for someone of Marie's outspoken temperament.

Police State and the Impossibility of Return

By 1880, Marie's acquaintance Sophie Kaverine provides a chilling picture of Russia under surveillance: "On deporte, on emprisonne, on exile pour un mot. On fait des visites domiciliaires de nuit... Il n'y a pas de famille ou il n'y ait un exile, un pendu ou un surveille au moins" (September 30, 1880). Sophie warns Marie that "pour le dixieme de ce que je dis, je serais envoyee aux travaux forces ou pendue." Marie's response is defiant: "J'irai en Russie, quand il y aura dans ce beau pays quelque respect du droit des gens" (September 30, 1880). And yet she also confesses: "Quant a la Russie qui est mon sang et ma chair j'aime mieux m'en tenir eloignee" (August 19, 1880), fearing that her passionate temperament would make political engagement inevitable and fatal.

Marie's Visit to Russia (1876)

Marie's only documented return to Russia as a diarist occupies carnets 064--066 (July--October 1876) and constitutes some of the diary's most vivid writing. The itinerary reveals the scope of the visit:

Petersburg (August 3--12): Marie crosses the border at Eydkuhnen, noting "nous verrons bien ce que sera la Russie" (July 31, 1876). In Petersburg, she is "fiere de parler le russe, comme une langue de plus" but notes that "ces animaux de Russes n'apprecient pas mes nobles efforts" (August 5--6, 1876). She observes the prelude to the Russo-Turkish War as officers depart for Serbia.

Moscow (August 12--14): Arriving at "notre vraie capitale, la ville vraiment russe," Marie contrasts it with the Germanic Petersburg: "tout est russe, l'architecture, les wagons, les maisons, le paysan qui sur le rebord de la route regarde passer le train... tout est russe, tout est cordial, simple, religieux, loyal" (August 11--12, 1876). She loves the common people but fears for them: the nihilists are already at work.

The Estates (August 14--October): Marie travels south to the Poltava region, staying at Chpatovska, then extensively at Gavronzi with her father. She visits Poltava for social life: "Quand commencera la saison a Poltava ? Je tiens a voir cette ville dans toute sa splendeur" (April 6, 1876, in anticipation). She also visits Dikanka and Tcherniakovka. The visit is partly practical --- settling legal affairs, touring her properties --- and partly social, as the eligible Miloradovitch is a potential suitor.

This visit cemented Marie's ambivalence toward Russia. She loved the landscape, the people, the sense of belonging --- but she could not live there. "Je ne connais parfaitement aucune langue. La mienne ne m'est familiere que dans les rapports domestiques et j'ai quitte la Russie a l'age de onze ans" (July 3, 1876).

The 1883 Russia Plans

By 1883, Marie contemplates another Russian journey, though it never materializes into a full visit documented in the same detail as 1876. She writes of the "voyage oblige de Russie qui va m'interrompre pendant un mois" (April 29, 1883), treating it as an unwelcome disruption to her painting. She is preoccupied with the Salon, her work on large canvases, and her failing health. The planned visit is connected to unfinished legal affairs: "Quand je suis allee la premiere fois en Russie, il y a six ans de cela, j'avais dix-sept ans" (April 12, 1883), she recalls, measuring the distance.

Meanwhile, Russian press coverage of her Salon success creates a stir: "L'article du 'Nouveau Temps' est reimprime dans tous les journaux russes et voila un grand retentissement" (July 13, 1883). An article reprinted in a southern Russian newspaper "fait crier a Poltava sans doute" (July 8, 1883) --- her fame reaches the provincial society she left behind.

Russia vs. France in Marie's Mind

Marie's relationship with Russia and France constitutes one of the diary's central tensions. She inhabits a no-man's-land between the two countries, belonging fully to neither:

Russia as blood and identity: "Quant a la Russie qui est mon sang et ma chair" (August 19, 1880). At the 1873 Vienna Exposition, tears come to her eyes at the sight of Russian writing in the Russian pavilion: "On a beau dire, la patrie est toujours la patrie. Tout ce qui est russe est beau" (August 4, 1873). She is outraged when Alexander II is caricatured at a circus: "je suis indignee, ca n'est pas pour M. Romanoff, mais pour la Russie" (August 14, 1873).

France as adopted home and instrument: "Moi jusqu'a present je n'ai pas de pays qui soit plus ma patrie que la France. Mais je n'aime pas ce pays, je voudrais l'exploiter, m'en servir mais voila tout" (August 19, 1880). France is the terrain of ambition, the place where art is made and fame is won. Russia is the country of feeling.

Nice as emotional homeland: After years in Paris, Nice reclaims her: "J'ai grandi ici, c'est presque ma patrie et si je me suis cramponnee a Paris en cherchant a m'y faire une place ces annees passees a Nice font que j'y reviendrai toujours" (January 30, 1882). Nice, where she grew up among Russian emigres, is the compromise between the two --- neither fully Russian nor fully French.

Italy as rival patrie: Marie's love for Italy, especially Rome, complicates the picture further: "j'adore l'Italie comme ma patrie, comme le duc de Hamilton, comme Dieu" (June 29, 1877). And in her final year: "Il me semble que Rome seule peut etre aimee comme la patrie" (December 16, 1883). Italy competes with Russia for her emotional allegiance.

The practical calculation: Marriage calculations expose the tension starkly. The Gavini family advises her to "aller me marier en Russie avec un homme riche et revenir jouir de la vie" (June 25, 1880). Marie herself considers it: "Ce que j'ai de mieux a faire, c'est aller en Russie et tacher de plaire a Miloradovitch" (March 19, 1876). But the thought of actually living there appalls her: "Non, je ne demeurerai pas en Russie, je veux etre anglaise" (October 25, 1873).

Family Business and the Russian Lawsuits

Russia is not only an emotional concept but a practical nightmare. The diary is threaded with anxieties about "les affaires de Russie" --- endless lawsuits, property disputes, and family mismanagement:

- Marie's uncles Georges and Alexandre engaged in scandalous behavior in Poltava, "rossant des fonctionnaires" and provoking the governor, leading to Georges's exile to Viatka in 1865 (000.0002).
- Ongoing lawsuits paralyze the family's finances: "cette stupide affaire en Russie qui embrouille tout" (November 18, 1873).
- The family's legal troubles drag on for decades: "toutes les affaires en Russie sont terminees, sauf une" (October 13, 1883) --- but even that exception generates "vilains papiers a l'ambassade" every six months.
- Money sent from Russian estates supports life abroad: Marie's brother Paul manages the property, but negotiations over her share produce bitter conflict (September 21, 1883).
- Marie's testament is addressed "A M. Paul Bashkirseff, Poltava. En mains propres. Russie" (June 1, 1880) --- Russia is where her legal identity resides even as her life unfolds in Paris.

Russian Community Abroad

Marie's social world in Western Europe is heavily Russian. See [[RUSSIAN]] for detailed treatment of the expatriate community; here a brief summary:

In Nice: The Bashkirtseffs are part of a large Russian colony centered on the Russian Orthodox church on Rue Longchamp. Marie's early social circle --- the Galitzines, Anitchkoffs, Basilevitchs, Tolstoys, Daniloffs --- is overwhelmingly Russian. She attends Russian concerts, observes Russian holidays, and navigates Russian social hierarchies while simultaneously disdaining "ces gens sales et antediluviens russes" (April 2, 1873).

In Paris: The Russian colony shifts from social to professional context. At the Academie Julian, Marie is known as "une Russe." She frequents the Russian Orthodox Easter services, where the Russian diplomatic community gathers: "la grande revue des femmes et des robes russes" (May 1, 1880). Figures like the Engelhardt family, Bojidar, and various Russian acquaintances form "une intimite russe" (October 5, 1883) alongside her French artistic world.

The Embassy Question: Access to Russian diplomatic circles matters enormously for social standing. In Rome, Marie's family is humiliated by the ambassador's wife, Mme Ixkull, who refuses to present them at court --- despite the fact that "etant femme d'un marechal de noblesse ma mere a tout le droit d'etre presentee a la cour d'Italie et meme d'aller a celle de Russie" (March 22, 1876). This slight exposes the gap between provincial Russian nobility and diplomatic society.

Marie's View of the Russian People

Marie's attitudes toward Russians range from passionate identification to withering contempt, depending on social class:

The common people: Marie loves the Russian peasantry with a romantic, paternalistic affection. In Moscow: "J'aime le peuple russe, bon, brave, loyal, naif. Ces hommes et ces femmes s'arretent devant chaque eglise... et se signent... au milieu de la rue comme s'ils etaient chez eux" (August 5--6, 1876). The train porter greets them "comme des amis avec un large sourire plein de respect. On est loin de l'effronterie francaise et de la gravite allemande" (August 11--12, 1876).

The provincial nobility: Pure scorn. Marie describes "la societe de Poltava avec des epithetes animales et droles" --- they are not dogs or pigs (noble animals), but bedbugs (November 2, 1873). Her father is "tout parfume de l'esprit de Poltava, des bons mots pitoyables" (November 25, 1873). "Il n'y a que les moeurs espagnoles qui ressemblent un peu a nos provinces russes. Nous n'avions pas la moindre tenue" (August 5, 1883).

The Russian character: Late in the diary, Marie reflects on national character with increasing sharpness: "Le caractere russe est par certains cotes terriblement concierge... On y trouve une assurance infernale, un entetement..." (November 27, 1883). She uses "moujik" as an all-purpose insult for anyone she finds crude, regardless of actual social class.

Russia as a Place Marie Cannot Inhabit

The central paradox of Marie's relationship with Russia is that the country she claims as her own is one she cannot --- and will not --- live in. The reasons accumulate across the diary:

1. Political danger: Her outspokenness would get her exiled or killed under the repressive regime (September 30, 1880). 2. Provincial narrowness: Life in Poltava means intellectual isolation and social mediocrity. 3. Loss of artistic ambition: "Aller me marier en Russie... au lieu de m'user la jeunesse a barbouiller des toiles" (June 25, 1880) --- Russia means abandoning art. 4. Family dysfunction: Every visit means immersion in the lawsuits, scheming relatives, and property disputes that drive her to despair. 5. Cultural disconnect: Having left at ten, Marie is Russian by identity but French by formation. She thinks and writes in French; her Russian literacy is limited.

And yet Russia haunts her. Before the 1876 visit, the idea of Russia consoled her: "cette 'Russie' qui me consolait de tout et me donnait quelque force" (July 30, 1876). The word appears in quotation marks --- Marie knows that "Russia" is as much an idea as a place, a fantasy of belonging that sustains her through the frustrations of expatriate life. When she finally arrives, reality is more complex than the dream, but her love for the land itself is genuine: in her final December 1883 entry mentioning Russia, she writes "Paris je le deteste et... des attendrissements pour la campagne russe... J'aime mon pays" (December 16, 1883).

Usage Notes

Paragraph Tagging

- Tag with `#Russia` when Marie discusses Russia as a place, Russian political events, the family estates, legal/financial affairs in Russia, or travel to/from Russia.
- For the Russian language, code-switching, and cultural identity expressed through language, use `#Russian` (see [[RUSSIAN]]).
- Many paragraphs warrant both tags --- e.g., passages about speaking Russian while in Russia, or Russian community life abroad.
- "Cuir de Russie" (Russia leather) is a material reference, not a geographic one --- do not tag.

Key Diary Sections

- Carnet 000 (Preface): Family background, estates, childhood in Russia
- Carnets 003--012 (1873): Plans to go to Russia; early patriotic feeling; Vienna Exposition
- Carnets 055--056 (March 1876): Plans to visit Russia from Rome
- Carnets 064--066 (July--October 1876): THE Russia visit --- Petersburg, Moscow, Gavronzi, Poltava
- Carnet 073 (August 1877): Russo-Turkish War anxiety
- Carnets 088--089 (1880): Mother in Russia; police state; nihilism
- Carnets 099--102 (1883): Planned Russia trip; Russian press fame; late reflections

Related Entries

Places

- [[POLTAVA]] --- Provincial capital, family's administrative center
- [[GAVRONZI]] --- Paternal estate, setting of custody battle and 1876 visit
- [[TCHERNIAKOVKA]] --- Maternal estate, source of nostalgia
- [[VICHNEVKA]] --- Another family property
- [[PETERSBURG]] --- Imperial capital, visited 1876
- [[MOSCOW]] --- "Our true capital," visited 1876
- [[KHARKOV]] --- Regional city referenced in family context
- [[UKRAINE]] --- The modern nation encompassing the Poltava region
- [[NICE]] --- Primary residence of the Russian emigre community
- [[PARIS]] --- Artistic home, site of Russian colony

People

- [[PAPA]] --- Konstantin Bashkirtseff, marshal of nobility in Poltava
- [[MAMAN]] --- Maria Stepanovna, nee Babanina, from Poltava nobility
- [[ALEXANDRE]] --- Uncle, manages Russian affairs
- [[PAUL]] --- Brother, eventually manages family property

Culture

- [[RUSSIAN]] --- Language entry with extensive coverage of Russian cultural identity
- [[POLITICS]] --- Political themes including Russian affairs
- [[HEALTH]] --- Tuberculosis, ironic given Nice's popularity with Russians for the climate

Historical

- [[HERITIER_DE_RUSSIE]] --- The heir to the Russian throne
- [[CRIMEAN_WAR]] --- Background to Russian international standing

%% 2025-04-05T18:14:06 RSR: Created glossary entry for Russia based on references in Marie's diary %% %% 2026-05-25T08:00:00 RSR: Comprehensive expansion of RUSSIA glossary entry. Restructured as place-focused entry complementing the RUSSIAN language entry. Added: family estates (Gavronzi, Tcherniakovka, Vichnevka), Poltava Governorate historical context, Russian Empire political timeline (emancipation, Russo-Turkish War, nihilism, police state), detailed 1876 Russia visit itinerary, Russia-vs-France psychological tension, family lawsuits, Russian community abroad, Marie's views of Russian people by class, Russia as unlivable homeland paradox. Sources: diary entries passim (carnets 000-102); Wikipedia (Russian Empire, Poltava Governorate, Emancipation reform of 1861, Russo-Turkish War 1877-78, Alexander II, Alexander III); Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Poltava region, Poltava Governorate); Mathilde Blind, Introduction to The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff (London: Cassell, 1890); Katherine Kernberger, I Am the Most Interesting Book of All (Fonthill Press, 2013). %%